


Buried Alive

by AHeartForStories



Series: AHeartForStories' Febuwhump 2021 [9]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Buried Alive, FebuWhump2021, Febuwhump, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29433630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHeartForStories/pseuds/AHeartForStories
Summary: Written for Febuwhump Day 9. Set during Httyd 2. After his father's death, Hiccup is unnervingly quiet and the others present can't help but comment on it.
Relationships: Astrid & Fishlegs & Hiccup & Ruffnut & Snotlout & Tuffnut, Eret & Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Series: AHeartForStories' Febuwhump 2021 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137413
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	Buried Alive

**Author's Note:**

> febuwhump prompt: "Buried alive"
> 
> This is supposed to be up on the 9th, but work has really been kicking my ass last week and it's hard to catch up even in the weekend.  
> Also, took this prompt and changed it up a little since I already did a literal interpretation for Whumptober 2020.
> 
> Constructive criticism is appreciated.  
> Enjoy!

On the beach of the Sanctuary, after the battle, the Riders are searching for a still functioning boat amongst the many wrecks left behind by Drago and the Trappers. They are without their dragons in this search and so far every boat they've come across has let them down.

They're going to need exactly two, one will serve to get them out of here as they have no other means of travel.

Their dragons have been stolen from them by Drago as well as the many dragons of the Good Bewilderbeast's Sanctuary, as well as their fighting spirits, as well as one of their own.

Chief Stoick the Vast has been killed by Drago Bludvist and it's a devastating loss for them all.

Hiccup is without a father now. as such, he is the only one not taking part in the search of a ship that is to be Stoick's funeral pyre to help him cross into Valhalla, where he deserves to be.

Even Eret is helping out, scouting the beach without straying too far from the group, which doesn't want to stray too far from Hiccup. He does so silently, solemnly, in respect for the deceased and the ones who have lost him.

Snotlout wishes he could complain about Hiccup's sitting around and doing nothing, because that would've meant that Hiccup isn't going through a big loss, it would've meant that he isn't hurting.

But he is and he's hurting a lot.

"Ugh, not this one either. Did we really have to sink _all_ these ships?!" In her frustration, Ruffnut complains when she finds another stranded ship with a large hole burned all the way down through the deck.

"At this rate, we won't find any to take us back to Berk either." Astrid muses, also troubled by the disappointing finds so far. It seems it's already hard enough to find just one ship that is still intact, let alone two.

"Go back and do what? There's no way we can beat Drago. Clearly." Tuffnut says listlessly, kicking away a nearby bend sword.

How foolish it was of them to think that they ever stood a chance. Drago is clearly in an entirely different league than Viggo or even Johann was and he's more than the Dragon Riders could ever hope to beat.

They fought so hard and for what? To lose everything they know and love? To never see their dragons again? To have them be forced to fight once again? And to then have their home, Berk, be doomed?

They don't even really know what happened. They just heard Stoick calling for his son in a panic and before they found them, there was a plasma blast and Stoick is dead while Hiccup isn't. From this and from Hiccup pushing Toothless away, they deduced what must've happened.

Blaming him never came to any of their minds and they know Hiccup well enough that he doesn't truly blame Toothless either.

They should've listened to their chief and gone back home, they should've listened to Eret, who was the first to warn them of Drago.

"We'll find a way, Tuff," Astrid assures him strongly as she leaves another wrecked boat.

"How?! Our dragons are gone and there's no way we can get them back!" Fishlegs is despairing. This situation is hopeless to him, to all of them.

"Maybe we could've still stood a chance if, you know," Ruffnut mentions and glances Hiccup's way. "If Drago wasn't such a jerk."

They all look over to where Hiccup is sitting on a rock. He's silent, staring tiredly at the ground below his feet. He did his crying some hours ago and they haven't heard a peep from him since, not a single one.

They've never seen him look so defeated before, so lost. It's almost like all life has left him and there's just nothing left.

Blood covers the front of his chest piece, his clothing, and on both of his armbraces. It used to be on his hands and face as well, but it's been cleaned off. It's all from Stoick, leftover from the gaping wound as his son cried into his chest.

With ocean water, Astrid has cleaned his hands and face, something he was just too out of to do himself. He let her, watched silently as the blood disappeared from his hands.

There was a moment as she cleaned him that it almost seemed like he would begin to cry again, but while the tears did fall, there was still no sound and barely change in his expression. He couldn't even thank her for the help, the words stuck in his throat.

"How is this somehow so much worse than when he yelled at us that one time?" Snotlout asks, remembering how awful it felt to have Hiccup snap at them.

That was related to something terrible happening to Stoick, too, except he ended up surviving then. Now he's dead and no one knows how Hiccup is going to cope with this. The last time, he began to fear the mere concept of becoming chief someday, which really did not help his pre-existing notion that he does not have what it takes to lead a tribe someday.

"I imagine this is the first time you've seen him like this?" Eret asks cautiously. He's known all along that Drago would destroy this naive young man, but that doesn't mean he isn't empathic.

Young, obviously not knowing a lot about the world, Hiccup should've never been forced to face the truth like this, though Eret has known from the beginning that this would happen.

Maybe not this specifically, but certainly something bad.

Yes, the Dragon Riders freeing their dragons got him and his crew in trouble, but Hiccup seemed good and kind enough, like someone who still has hope in all the good in the world. Eret didn't want anything to happen to him.

Seeing him sit there now, it sends chills down his spine, too.

"No, we've never seen him like this before. This is a first." Astrid responds, the only one willing to.

Throughout the years, they've seen many sides to Hiccup.

They've seen how competitive he can be during the first Thawfest games with dragons, they've seen how obsessive he can get whe someone seemingly smarter than him comes along, they've seen him snap when someone he loves very much is hurt very badly. They were all negative emotions, but at least he could show those.

This? This is something entirely new, something they never would've imagined to see with someone as emotional as him. He's usually such an open book.

It's almost like he's buried alive underneath a ton of feelings. There is so much of it, all varying versions of pain, and he is so crushed beneath them all that he can't express any of it. All he can do is sit there and stare.

"But he'll be okay, right? He's Hiccup, he's always okay in the end." Tuffnut asks as it's something the Dragon Riders have always relied on. Besides his smarts, his ability to just be okay after everything has also been a comfort to them. Because if Hiccup is okay, they can be.

He was okay when he lost his leg, after years of being the village outcast, after defeating Dagur, after Viggo's death, and then later after defeating Krogan and Johann. Hiccup is always okay, so why wouldn't he be this time?

Astrid glances Hiccup's way again, Eret and Tuffnut following her example.

"He will be, Tuffnut." That is her final answer to his question and she's sure that she's right. Tuffnut believes her and Eret will have to take her word for it.

Ruffnut, Fishlegs, and Snotlout glance Hiccup's way one last time as well before continuing with their search. They, too, believe Astrid's words as they've seen it before.

His mom is with him now. She's kneeled in front of him, his clean hands in hers as she talks to him. Hiccup isn't responding much to her either, but they still have faith that he will be able to get through this. They believe in him, in his strength and his stubbornness.

"Over here! Here's one!" Eret shouts out to the group, having found a modest little boat that's still functional enough to float. This one will serve as their funeral pyre.

Now all that remains is setting it all up and they can go ahead with the ceremony, knowing that Berk herself will never be there for it.

Gobber approaches Hiccup and lays a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, lad, it's time." He says and Hiccup nods. It's the most he's responded to anyone in this past hour or two.


End file.
